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An underground donut railroad.

The sidewalk around the corner from my building is filthy in such an organized way

Master of the obvious. Here is what I learned today about the difference between writing a novel and a short story (or a collection of short stories, I suppose): My instinct for the last decade has been to make sure all of the information gets in there at once, maybe not at the beginning necessarily, but there is really no time to lose in a short story. (Attribute this also to my jounalistic work, and considerable time making content for the internet.) And in novels there is more of a slow burn, a tease of information. There's more downtime in a novel, or at least the opportunity for it.

I've always wanted to make everything thrilling and exciting and about a specific moment in time, certain details be damned, but now I gotta explain shit. It all has to be worked out. No short-term thinking allowed. I've learned how to manage 7,000 words, now I need to learn how to manage 70,000. Ten moves ahead instead of two. OK. This is interesting.

(5/09/05)